


Then and Now

by gotta_write_them_all (locky)



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Angst, Emotional Healing, Fluff, I mean Thomas' arse is out and about so all is well, It starts off angsty but turns into fluff, James' husbands bickering affectionately, M/M, Multi, This bed is wide enough for three people thank you very much, a walk down the memory lane, brief mentions of Miranda because I love her and miss her and so does James
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 17:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17923229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locky/pseuds/gotta_write_them_all
Summary: “What was he like?” Silver asks.





	Then and Now

“What was he like?” Silver asks, his head resting on James’ arm. Black curls flow over the freckled skin and out to the white sheets like a dark mysterious river through a snowed-in valley.

The day has just begun. The weak winter sun illuminates the tiny snow crystals that cling to the window glass with cold desperation.  
James shifts, his eyes refocusing as he combs through his mind, gently tiptoeing around the memories, some too precious to disturb, some too ghastly, the sweetest ones woven together with the ugliest.

But then he finds it, the familiar smell of the oak table in Thomas’ study. The cold touch of Miranda’s silk dress as it slides between his fingers. The sound of Thomas’ laugh, his blurred smile as his forehead presses against James’. The tickle of his warm exhale on James’s nape, the fondness of kisses he plants on James’ eyelids between sweet confessions.

_What was Thomas like?_

“He was uncompromising in his pursuits, often to such a degree that he seemed arrogant.  
He loved to challenge everything and everyone. Never out of spite but rather out of a good-natured playfulness and curiosity. He was silly in a way only the brightest people are. His belief in the good was naive, his aspiration for the better was equal parts brave and endearing, his determination infectious and his heart kind. I was taken by it all long before I knew.”

James turns and plants a quick affectionate kiss on John’s forehead, just under where the stream of his curls springs to life. John smiles, leans into the touch, pushes his head farther into space between James’ shoulder and his neck.

“And now? What is he like now?”

James doesn’t answer his question right away. He takes some time to ponder.

A lot of time has passed between then and now. They lived a whole life apart.  
And time can be dangerous. It heals. Sometimes all too well. First, it numbs the places that hurt the worst, parts that once loved and were loved most fiercely. Then it spreads through the rest until your body feels like someone else's and the person you were in love is unrecognizable. He knows this because he has felt the nauseating power of it on himself, every time he touched Miranda and felt like there was less of him left. Until there was none of her.  
He thought too much of his being had fallen victim to the paralysis caused by time passing still, undisturbed as if lives hadn’t ended. As if his life hadn’t ended.

But then Thomas surprised him. As he stood in the field, too numb, the time had stood still next to him before Thomas recognized him and reached out.  
He recognized James later that night too when he caressed James’ new body with known precision. Feeling compelled by the familiar touch, time started to flow backwards for James, coaxing the hardest confessions out of him with sudden carelessness.

And Thomas surprised him again when he kissed James over and over despite the meaning of those confessions. Or maybe because of it. Time heals and James thought, maybe it had healed Thomas’ kindness as well.

But then, months later when Silver showed up at their doorstep and Thomas welcomed him into their home and their lives, he knew he had been wrong - some people can’t be corrupted by the passage of time. In some people love flows like time. It’s infinite and ever-present, with no beginning and no conclusion.

 

“I don’t think much has changed,” James says in the end.

The bedroom door flies open with a thud. Thomas runs in wearing nothing but a nightshirt that barely goes below his arse.

“Oh, good God. It’s freezing! Good thing at least _one_ of us turned out to be _thoughtful enough_ to start a fire so we can have breakfast later without _losing any more of our limbs_ ,” he eyes Silver irritated but James can see the affection underneath and so can Silver, he knows.

James and Silver both laugh.

Silver raises the blanket in an invitation and Thomas gets into the bed.  
His frozen limbs slide along James’ and Silver’s and they both let out a cry.

“What were you talking about? When I was gone?” Thomas asks as he settles into the warmth of the bed.

“You, my love”  
James reaches for Thomas across Silver’s frame, lays his palm flat on Thomas’ chest.

“Oh?” Thomas’ interest is sparked. “And what exactly did you say?”

“It all boiled down to you being an insufferable but kind fuck, Mr Hamilton,” Silver answers, grinning wide with pride.

James has to laugh again. As much as he enjoys witnessing the tender moments between Silver and Thomas, watching them bicker is just as entertaining and surreal.

“Sounds like me,” Thomas agrees, but then wiggles around and presses his cold soles back against Silver’s warm limbs as a revenge.

“Insufferable”, John mutters under his breath, but he groped Thomas’ elbow pulling the man closer. He kisses him and doesn’t stop until he’s convinced every part of Thomas is hot.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and as always, kudos and comments = serotonin. Help a brain out.


End file.
